_{[Whenever possible, Destructoid critiques overlooked design aspects of games both old and recent for our "Revisited" series.]}

The end of a game, in an ideal world, is the apex of its presentation: one moment in which the narrative and gameplay come together, building on everything you've learned in the past eight-to-eighty hours in a satisfying and internally logical way. Unfortunately, given the fact that there isn't a huge stack of pancakes in front of me, I can safely deduce that this isn't an ideal world and that, ergo, games' endings have the chance of sucking eggs.

I don't want to be overly general and say that most game endings are bad (or good), but I do think that they're interesting points of departure to talk about game design or narrative structure. If an ending works, figuring how it works might provide insight into what makes each mechanic or plot device effective in its own right.

Conversely, if a game's ending falls flat on its face (like Prince of Persia's does), it usually serves as a decent lens through which to see where else the game falls short. Don't get me wrong: I really like Prince of Persia (a lot more than Anthony did, it seems), but I ain't like how it ended.

What I do like is that examining its ending—precisely what this Revisited aims to do—might lead to an insightful, or at least interesting, discussion about the game as a whole.

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A few days ago, I posted a pretty scummy-looking trailer of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Timefilm. By scummy-looking I mean the quality of the video, not the quality of the film. 

Of course, not everyone agreed -- some of you guys immediately said it looked like a generic action film, and have written it off as Hollywood bastardizing a game you've come to love. I understand being hesitant, and to an extent, I see where you're coming from with this. 

But can you honestly say that the film doesn't at least look to deliver a competent, relatively entertaining action blockbuster? As a fan of the series, I'm excited to see the final result. I see a lot of elements taken directly from the games, from the Prince's costume to the look of the "Dark Prince" in a few of the time-bending sequences.

Crossing my fingers that it won't suck. I'll say this, at least it didn't make me "LOL" like this. LOL, indeed.

You may not know his face (hint: it's that one up there) but Jordan Mechner is famous for singlehandedly creating the celebrated original Prince of Persia games. You may also know that he had a hand in the more recent Sands of Time trilogy. What you may not know is that he is also involved in the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, in a non-superficial manner. 

At a recent screening of the trailer for the movie (which was leaked onto YouTube a few days ago), Jordan Mechner and Jerry Bruckheimer were present for a short Q&A session, where Mechner showed genuine enthusiasm about the film. 

"I got this big smile on my face that wouldn't go away," Mechner said, when asked how it felt to see his creation brought to life. And when the inevitable question about the pitfalls of crappy videogame movies were brought up, Mechner's advice is that rather than just being a movie based on a videogame. "It's got to be a movie that can stand on its own." 

So if the creator of the franchise is pleased with where Bruckheimer is taking his baby, can we take that to mean this movie might be worthwhile? Or do you remain doubtful about it, taking the more cynical "he is excited about it because he is going to make a lot of money from it" approach?

Last week, Disney had a private behind-closed-doors peek at the trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film. But we weren't allowed to show it to you... so we used words. 

Words are so boring. It appears Seanbajuice.com has gotten its hands on an early, low-ish quality version of the trailer and decided to put it on YouTube. It's better than nothing, but I think it illustrates a very important point -- this movie might not be completely crap. 

Sure, it's very over-the-top in that Hollywood action-film way. Hell, this is Jerry Bruckheimer we're talking about here. But at least at its core, it does appear to stick close to the main points of the game's plot. Also, Jake Gyllenhaal is sooooo dreamy.

Ubisoft has issued a “no comment” to CVG regarding the slated spring reveal of the rumored next Prince of Persia videogame.

Speaking at a recent preview event for the Prince of Persia film, an unnamed movie team member told Web site Neoseeker that a new Prince of Persia videogame was set to be revealed in Spring 2010. Light on information, the person -- representative, Jerry Bruckheimer, whoever -- added little, saying they aren’t the right people to give out details.

Seeking confirmation, CVG asked about the title. They received a no comment line.

One doesn’t necessarily need a crystal ball to see if Ubisoft is working on another Prince of Persia videogame -- it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t be considering the success of the series. But there have been a few possible developments on this front.

Early last month, we reported the discovery of a mention of a new Prince of Persia from a Ubisoft character modeler. More interestingly -- and included the aforementioned article -- Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner has filed for the trademark Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

Of course, there's nothing solid here -- the videogame team isn't commenting and a LinkedIn profile or a trademark filing don't confirm like a picture or official announcement does, but we're willing to guess, just throwing it out there, that a new Prince of Persia is happening. We'll know soon enough, it seems.

On Tuesday, I traveled out to Jerry Bruckheimer Productions in Santa Monica to check out the trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia film adaptation. In case you haven't been keeping up with it, the movie is based on the Sands of Time trilogy, and it features the famous gay cowboy Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular prince.

The movie announcement was met with indifference from the cynical denizens of the Internet, for a number of reasons. Historically, video game movies have rubbed gamers the wrong way, either due to excessive deviation from the source material or simple lack of production standards (or sometimes both). So I walked into the private screening room as a bit of a skeptic myself.

Hit the jump for some thoughts and details on the trailer for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

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In 2003, Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner had a sit-down meeting with Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney executives. The goal, to sell them on the idea of a Prince of Persia film. 

Mechner explains it took him a week to cut up the above pitch trailer in Final Cut Pro, using existing footage from the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time game. He says that designing the trailer was a challenge, as many of the key scenes, locations, and characters from the film simply weren't in the game.

"So rather than attempt to explicitly tell the story of the movie in the trailer," he writes, "I set out to convey the kind of movie it would be."

What you won't see in the trailer -- time freezing, sand monsters, and the game's eerie vision sequences. They're apparently not in the movie, instead replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal's abs and five o'clock shadow.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (the movie, sort of based on the game) is scheduled for a 2010 release. And if this pitch trailer sold me on anything, it's that I need to play Sands of Time again. Damn that game was good.

[via Jordan Mechner's blog] 

Unsurprisingly, it looks like Ubisoft is hard at work on another Prince of Persia title. 

Superannuation has uncovered a LinkedIn profile of a Ubisoft character modeler who makes a direct reference to "working on a new Prince of Persia." The site also noticed that Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner recently filed for a trademark of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Whether the two are related (or if they have anything to do with the upcoming movie) is unknown. 

I was a big fan of last year's Prince of Persia, so a follow up would be welcome. What changes would you like to see Ubisoft make?  

Here’s a mouthful: the price of Prince of Persia’s “Epilogue” downloadable content is to be lowered at some point this afternoon. According to CVG, Microsoft has pegged the piece of DLC as its latest Deal of the Week promotion. As such, the introductory 800 Microsoft Banana Dollar price will be cut to 560 MSP. Not bad a bad tag, if the price kept you from seeing the (true?) conclusion of the game.

The DLC offers a bit more than a continuation of the narrative. It adds a new power called Energize, introduces a new region, a new attack, and even a few more skins for the ever-helpful Elika and the Prince. Lasting a few hours, “Epilogue” is also harder than the core game -- a direct result, perhaps, of the message board moans and groans about the game.

So, cheaper is better, right? How many of you are jumping on this (provided Microsoft cuts the price)?

Dear Sir Ben Kingsley,

How do you go from an Academy Award-winning performance as Mahatma Ghandi to playing cookie-cutter villains in fifth-rate films based on videogame licenses? You are either a fool or the film industry totally hates you. Either way, I weep.

That said, I do have to admit that you look like a total badass in this first promotional image of your character in the upcoming Prince of Persia movie. I would totally not like to meet you in a crowded bazaar, especially with that creepy shimmer in your eye. It just screams, "I'm going to manipulate the very forces of the cosmos and rape your entire bloodline, generation by generation." You terrify me.

The tragedy is that your character is going to wind up with the crap beaten out of him by that wussy, Jake GysahlGreens. There really is no justice in this world, is there?

Hoping you won't violate everyone I hold dear,

Conrad Zimmerman

Put Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner and comic legend Todd McFarlane in a room, and what do you get? A Prince of Persia book with pretty pictures, also known as graphic novel, of course!

Published by Disney Book Group, the 128-page graphic novel will feature six original stories written by Mechner. The collection will act as a sequel to the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer film, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and will hopefully use a better font. The book will be published as a limited 125,000 print run in April 2010, not long after the film’s May 28 release.

Mechner and McFarlane (along with Bernard Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards, and Cameron Stewart) will go into more detail at a San Diego Comic-Con panel on July 24.

So Jake “my last name sucks to type” Gyllenhaal looks pretty damn good on the Prince of Persia movie poster. It’s a good pose and the outfit looks great. The tagline isn’t that bad, either! The second poster features the sexy Gemma Arterton, who also looks pretty good.

The problem with the posters, though, is the f**king font. Look at that sh*t. What the f**k am I even looking at? You could make a white guy look Persiany, but you can’t make the damn typeface look Persian? Not even a little?

Who uses f**king Helvetica in bold for a movie poster about Persia, anyway?! The artist couldn’t even try to “borrow” the font from the games? Dammit, Hollywood.

[Via JehutyFromHell’s C Blog]

Actor Jake GysahlGreens seems to look perpetually doe-eyed and confused in every Prince of Persia shot I've seen. Still, here he is looking much more like the titular Prince than ever before, even if his face does resemble that of a child who just dropped his ice cream on a cat, and is watching the cat run away with it on its back.

This is the first official picture from Jerry Bruckheimer's take on The Sands of Time. The picture is apparently available in Entertainment Weekly with much better quality, so if you're fixing to masturbate over this, you can do it to that one. 

"I'm tired of taking myself so seriously," says GysahlGreens. "It's nice when a stuntman turns to you and is like, 'Actors don't normally do this.'" 

He's right, of course. Proper actors don't normally appear in videogame movies.

Finally. The game with everyone’s favorite royal womanizer is available through the magic of digital distribution. Ubisoft Montreal’s Prince of Persia reboot can be downloaded via Impulse, Stardock’s digital download platform. It’s priced at a lean thirty bucks: a sweet tag for a game we lauded last holiday season.

The system requirements for Prince of Persia aren’t out of this world if you have a newer rig. You’ll need to be packing at least 2 GB of RAM ( Vista ), a decent video card and a total of 9 GB of hard drive space. Below the fold are the full requirements as listed by Impulse.

So, are any of you thinking about jumping on this? Prince of Persia has its share of faults: some platforming sections are spectacularly unexciting and the recycling of bosses can drain your life force. But it has its charms as well: it has gorgeous art and a great story. Holler back, people.

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